The Incident
by slifer97
Summary: So... I tried fluff... yeah. Go easy on me? Please? Burningleafshipping (RedxLeaf)


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon (obviously)

* * *

><p>Leaf's boots made little noise as she hiked through the snow which seemed to constantly cover the peak of the treacherous Mt. Silver. She shivered a little, and she could see her breath misting up in front of her face, but despite her discomfort Leaf didn't turn back; Red needed her, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to be there for him just because she was a little chilly.<p>

He stood there, as he often did, facing away from the opening to the inside of the vast mountain, observing the snowy expanse in front of him like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Seriously, Leaf had no idea how her boyfriend could continuously stare at nothing for so long without going crazy, yet Red was the most level headed guy she knew. She supposed that being alone for such long periods at a time helped to clear his mind of all distractions- _but still_.

The snow crunched when Leaf took another step forward, and she saw Red stiffen, but he didn't turn. She approached him and encircled his waist with her arms.

"Red?" she ventured. It took a few moments for him to reply.

"I failed, Leaf" he began hoarsely, "I couldn't save them. Silph- no, _Kanto_- paid the price for my screw up. I'm a failu-" his self-lamentation was brought to an abrupt stop as Leaf swiftly turned him around to face her and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft and full of tenderness, which she figured Red needed right now. After a few seconds, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes. His crimson irises met her blue ones, and she could see the self-loathing in them which had been present for weeks, ever since the incident.

"You can't save everyone Red, its impossible. You've been fighting Team Rocket for years, they were eventually going to win one battle. No one blames you for the takeover, what matters is you do what you always do- you fight back, don't give up. You're a good guy Red, remember that." She pulled him into a tight embrace, and felt his arms wrap around her smaller frame, his face nestled in her hair. A familiar position, a comforting one.

Red had tried to break himself out of this depression, he really had, but it was hard. He was a saving-people person, always had been. Sure, he had lost battles before, but they were usually Gym battles, or against other trainers. He had never lost when there were others depending on him- till now. Even now, as he hugged his girlfriend tight, trying to accept what she had said- she really was a truly amazing human being, Red didn't know what she saw in him, the quiet shut-in that he was- even now, his mind flashed back to the events of that fateful day, the panic in the professors voice as he rang to tell him about Team Rocket storming Silph, how he had urged Charizard to fly faster, faster, as they raced to Saffron, how the hordes of Rocket grunts had rounded up the citizens and ushered them back into their houses. He vividly recalled the stone cold determination on Blue's face as he methodically took out grunt after grunt, trying to clear a path to the Silph co. building. Then, the battle. Each of his Pokémon took out scores upon scores of Team Rocket scum, receiving hardly a scratch from the grunts' poorly trained Pokémon. But slowly, agonizingly slowly, they had tired, and that was when Giovanni struck. His Rhyperior was abnormal in its pure power and incredible bulk, and somehow Red found himself losing, Pokémon after Pokémon fainting- Charizard went down to a Stone Edge, whilst Snorlax was knocked out by a well-timed Hammer Arm, and Venusaur crumpled under an Ice Punch to the face. He recalled each painful defeat as though it was yesterday.

Red was jolted from his pained recollection by Leaf squeezing his forearms, biting her lip as she looked tentatively at his face. Red had never told her how adorable she looked when she did that- how her eyebrows scrunched up together, and a stray strand of hair fell into her face, just to the side of her eyes. And then, all of a sudden, life seemed okay. Red had absolutely no idea how it happened, but somehow, looking into his girlfriend's eyes, the situation he was in didn't seem so hopelessly terrible anymore. Sure, Kanto was under the control of Giovanni and Team Rocket, and sure, his best friend and rival was lost, presumably dead, but that was okay. No- it wasn't _okay _as such, but Red knew that the time for mourning wasn't now. Now was the time to get back his region, and take down those terrorist once and for all.

And as he wrapped his arms around Leaf and spun her in a circle and planted a kiss onto her forehead, Red knew, somehow, that everything was going to be okay.


End file.
